True Happiness
by Etani Verray
Summary: Linda, a new girl of Wammy's House, met a cold but smart boy named Near. But later, she discovered something wrong about him. What is it? Can she help him? AU Story.


Hello, readers!^o^)/

Here's me with my first Death Note Fanfic, so if it's weird or OOC please forgive me :)

Type: AU Story

Disclaimer: The awesome story of Death Note will always belongs to Tsugumi Ohba, and its nice drawings and arts belong to Takeshi Obata.

Well, enjoy~

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TRUE HAPPINESS

It was a sunny Monday morning in Winchester, England. People did their daily activities as the new busy week coming. A lot of cars and pedestrians had already been seen in the city street although it was only 7 o'clock in the morning. Meanwhile, in front of Wammy's House School….

"Wow, so this is my new school!", said the red haired girl around her sixteenth as she stared at the big building of Wammy's House School.

"Yes, Linda, and I hope you'll have a good day at your new school, honey!", said the girl's mom gently to her daughter.

"Of course, Mom, bye!", said the Linda girl while jumping from the car.

"Bye, honey!", said the mother as they waved at each other, and drove away.

That girl named Linda walked through the front garden of the school to the entrance of the building. The building is old styled, but still looked cool and stylish. The green grass, colorful flowers, an antique fountain, and a big clock tower added the uniqueness of the school. The view is so beautiful which makes her soul calm. She was so amazed by what she saw there.

She saw a lot of awards of the great achievers in the school hall. Well, it's not surprising since Wammy's House is a school for talented students. Linda herself was a great artist who got an international award for drawing. That's one of so many reasons that send her to this school although her old school was as good as this school. Her eyes scanned through the names of the great achievers which are placed on the news wall. But, only one names that always caught her eyes. The only name that got awards many more than any other students. That name is Near.

'I wonder how could he be this smart…', she thought while kept walking through the big hall. She let her eyes wondering around her new school, which helped her to know her new school better. She saw all of the students already stayed in their classroom, that's why there were no students in the hall or the school lawn.

And finally, after some interesting walk, she found the Headmaster room. It was located next to the teachers' room and it was a well-designed room. Linda opened the door and heard chatter inside the room between two men. One was an old man around his seventieth with white hair who she knew as Quillish Wammy, the headmaster. And the other man was an old man with white half-bald hair and wore glasses. They stopped talking once Linda came to the room.

"Excuse me, Sir. I'm Linda, the new student from yesterday. I want to know about my class and the schedule.", said Linda politely to Mr. Wammy as she walked slowly closer to them.

"Oh, Linda, I've been waiting for you.", he said. "Here's Mr. Roger Ruvie, he'll be your teacher and he'll guide you to your class.", he pointed at Mr. Ruvie who was smiling brightly to Linda.

"Well, Linda, let's go to our class. It's not far from here.", said Mr. Ruvie while packing his things.

"Okay, Mr. Ruvie! And excuse me, Mr. Wammy.", then she followed Mr. Ruvie to their class. She tried to be calm, but her mixed feelings made her quite nervous.

Mr. Ruvie stopped in front of a class which is labeled as class A, and gesture his hand as a sign for Linda to follow him to the class. Linda entered the class and saw around twenty students who were doing whatever they like. Like the boy with orange hair and unique clothes who was eating a bar of chocolate and a red haired-boy who played his PSP seriously.

"Good morning, students. I want you to meet our new student from New York, Linda. Now, Linda, you can sit over there, next to Near.", said Mr. Ruvie as he pointed to an empty seat next to a white-haired boy who was playing with his rubic.

The word "Near" made Linda immediately looked to the pointed seat. But, the Near boy seemed to not paying attention and keep playing with his rubic. Linda walked to her seat and took a look at Near. That boy looked young for his age, he has white hair which is not contrast to the school uniform, and he has eyebags although it almost invisible. Linda took her seat as Mr. Ruvie started to begin the lesson.

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Time passed really fast. It felt like Linda just came to the classroom five minutes ago, but it was already five hours since then. Mr. Ruvie was a good teacher, his teaching methods were very easy to understand. That was the first time that Linda didn't get bored on Physics.

"Well, now it's time for group homework. You can choose your own pair, one group consists of two people.", Mr. Ruvie said after he finished teaching about Force.

"Oh, and I forgot, Linda you can work with Near. Because I believe you didn't know anyone yet.", He added as he pointed at Near and Linda.

Linda didn't expect that she would be paired with the smartest boy in the school this fast. She felt happy but kind of nervous. She walked to Near's seat with a smile in her face. But surprisingly, Near still busily playing with his rubber erasers and made something like pyramid with it. It seemed like he didn't know that Linda was standing there. Linda didn't know what to do, but she put up her courage and talked to him.

"Umm.. Hi, Near, I'm Linda! Mr. Ruvie paired us together, you know?", Linda started the conversation awkwardly. But finally, Near stopped his playing and stared at her.

"Yes, I know, I heard it too.", he answered briefly and started to play with his erasers again.

"Oh well, let's do our best then. First, I think we should decide when and where to do this, so…"

"Don't worry, I'll take care of that while you just need to sit and write your name on the finished works." Near cut her sentences coldly. And of course, that really made Linda's position more awkward but deep inside, she felt like she want to throw a big canvas into this boy's face.

"But, Near, we need to do this together! We must…"

"Fine then, it's up to you. Time is over, I'll go home.", again, Near cut Linda's words as he packed his things and walked out of the class.

Linda stood there as she watched Near's back disappear after he passed through the door. She was upset, disappointed, angry, sad, and many more feelings that mixed in her head and heart. She sighed heavily, packed her things, and went out from the classroom too.

'Oh, Good God! I never thought that a person could be that mean! What a bad first day at school!', Linda thought madly as she walked through the corridor. She sat on the bench that was placed in the front school lawn. The bench wasn't really visible for the people who passing by there, but that was an ideal place to wait for the pickup. Linda saw many students chatted happily with each other while they were waiting for their pickup too, and some students who were already picked up by their parents or private driver.

Linda folded her arm as she saw more people passing by there. She felt so lonely. Why she only got to talk with one person that day, and why must it be Near? She sighed again, she felt so down as if she had went through a really bad day, although she only met an arrogant boy. She took out her cell-phone and messaged Misa, her best friend from New York. Oh how she missed her friends. She wished that she could meet and play with them right now. She really felt lonely. As she waited for the reply, she saw her mother's car got nearer to the school gateway, and Linda left the bench to go home.

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The next day, Linda didn't feel like going to school. But what can she do, she couldn't just told her mom that she was too lazy to go because of her unstable feeling. So, she just did whatever she must do. She sat down on her seat lazily. The class was still empty. Linda realized that it was still half past six. She folded her arm and for the first time, she felt better to be alone there.

Suddenly the door flew open and the familiar boy with white hair came in expressionlessly. Near went straight way to his seat next to Linda without even looking at her. He sat and took out his tablet PC. Linda, who was still not satisfied with Near's answer yesterday, decided to talk to him again.

"Hey, Near, do you want to do our teamwork at the central park today? I know the place which is ideal for us to do our work there.", Linda said cheerfully with her awkward big smile.

Near was still putting the puzzle's pieces on their place without looking up to Linda. "I don't like crowded place, you know? Just forget about it.", Near said bluntly.

"But, Near, I'm totally sure the place I was talking about is not crowded! Why you no agree and do our work quickly? There's a deadline!", Linda said loudly. She ran out of patience. She doesn't like the way Near think about their works. She grabbed one of her book, ready to hit Near on the head if he object again.

"Huh, fine.", Near sighed in defeat. "When do you want to meet?"

"Let see, how about today at 4pm? I'll wait for you in front of the park entrance.", Linda put away her book, thinking how come she has the idea to hit him.

"Okay.", Near answered slowly as he kept playing his tablet PC.

'Finally….', Linda thought as she took her seat. She thought Near would never want to do that teamwork, but fortunately he agreed. Linda smiled as she took out her new novel and read it while waiting for the lesson to start.

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Near slumped wearily on his bed. He felt so tired although he hadn't gone anywhere except school that day. 'And now, I must meet that girl. Oh God why, in this tiresome day I must go outside again!', he thought and sighed heavily.

He looked around. His room is really big and always neat, it's not surprising since he has five personal maids. He has everything he needs, from a ton of toys until the most expensive computer set. He is barely able to meet his parents every day, since his mom was already dead because of cancer and his father is always very busy. But it doesn't bother him at all. He liked the way everything goes, and he hoped nothing will ever change. Although he always felt that there was a piece missing from his soul.

"Young Master, do you need anything?", one of his maid asked politely while picking up his things.

"Nothing much, I just need you to prepare everything for me to go to the park at 4pm."

"Yes, Young Master, excuse me.", with that the maid disappear leaving Near alone with his thought.

'But this Linda girl is really something. I've never agreed to something so easily, especially something that include girls.', he thought wonderingly. 'Well, whatever, maybe that's because of this teamwork so important for me.', he could feel that his face getting hotter but don't know why. He shook his head and stood up from his bed as the time already showed 3pm.

He just needed 10 minutes to get everything ready. He took his bag and ran down the stairs. He saw that his maids and driver had already waiting there.

"Do you want some lunch before you go, Young Master?"

"No, nothing, let's go then.", with that he went outside and stepped in to the car that already parked in front of the house.

It had already been 30 minutes since they started to go to the park. Near never thought that the park was this far from his house, since he was never go to the park before. He looked outside the window. The view was no different than always, so many cars and strangers.

'So noisy.', he mumbled silently. 'That's why I just love being at home.'

"Young Master, we are already there.", the driver said politely as he got off and opened a door for Near.

Near stepped out and he could feel the fresh air coming to his nose. He saw Linda was already waiting on the bench while reading her novel. Near blushed slightly as he thought that Linda was cute in her summer dress which was very contrast with her hair. He told his driver to go before he walked slowly to the bench where Linda sits. Linda realized that someone was going nearer to her. She looked up from her book and smiled when she saw that Near was coming.

"Hey, Near!", she stood up and waving her hand. "I've been waiting for you, now let's go to the place that I talked about.", she said cheerfully as she took his hand and dragged him along the park.

"Ho-hoee! Linda, where're we going?", Near shouted desperately as he ran following Linda. He hated running. He hated everything about sport, and he always managed to get away from Physical Education lesson everytime. But now, he must running and even being in a crowded place.

"Just follow me!", Linda replied.

Near looked at his surroundings. He saw many children playing in the play yard. Swinging in the swings, sliding in the sliding board, built castle from the sand, laughing with their friends, and doing whatever they like. They looked so happy that no one could measure how much their happiness are. Something that Near has never experienced.

"Here we go, Near! This is the place, quiet isn't it?", Linda said taking Near back from his daydream. She led him to the bench with a garden table on it, and beside it was a big tree. The place wasn't so crowded, there were only some couples who enjoyed their times alone.

"Yeah, I see.", Near sat down beside Linda and started to do their works.

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"Hah, finally! It's done!", Linda sighed happily after finished writing the last sentence in her report. She looked at Near who already finished his report from 15 minutes ago. But Linda noticed that something didn't feel right from him. He kept staring at the empty space although he had his smartphone on his hand. He looked like he was thinking deeply about something.

"Umm, Near are you alright?", Linda asked worriedly.

"Huh, I'm alright, don't mind me.", Near replied briefly.

Linda still watching Near as if something is really wrong with him. But she managed to get rid of her thoughts and started to adding some art to her works. When suddenly, a boy ran and laughed cheerfully in front of them.

"James! Wait for me! Don't run like that, you'll trip!", a young woman, maybe around her twentieth, yelled angrily to the boy named James who were already stopped from running.

"Come on, Mom, you promised to buy me a big cup of chocolate ice cream! So let's go, quick!", the boy laughed happily and started to run again carelessly. But he didn't notice a big stone in front of him and he tripped to the ground. He squealed as his body touched the hard ground, it must be hurt.

"Oh my goodness, James, what did I tell you!", the mom ran to her son as he started to cry. She lifted him up from the ground and brought him to her lap while she stood on her knees. She cleaned the dirt from his clothes as she whispered some calming words to her son's ear.

"Mom, it hurts!", the boy cried as he clung to his mother's neck.

"Shussh, it's okay, dear. Mom is here, Mom is going to wiped away all your pain.", she kissed her son's forehead lovingly and cleaned his scratched elbow by wet tissue. "Now, let's buy some ice cream, it'll heal your wound in no time.", she smiled and picked her son up.

"Mom, I'm sorry, you don't get angry with me?", the boy asked anxiously to her mom, looked like he didn't cry anymore.

"Of course not, honey, why should I? My love for you is much bigger than my anger.", the mom chuckled and hugged her son tightly in her caring hug. They stayed like that for a while then walked away smiling, leaving Near staring at the place where they stayed one minute ago.

"Linda… Can I ask you something?", Linda looked at him. Somehow his tone didn't show his arrogance anymore, but sadness. Sadness and sorrow. He just looked different.

"Yeah, what is it, Near?"

"Is it happy to always be together with your parents? Feeling their love and caring nature…", Near said dreamingly, looking at the ground. Linda startled for a while, she never thought that Near, who always being so emotionless, would ask about something like this. She stayed like that while Near was waiting patiently for her answer.

"Yes, Near, it's very happy to be with someone you love. Pure happiness.", Linda smiled warmly at him.

"But, why I never feel that happiness? Is that only happen when I have the love of my parents, who were never be by my side. My mother passed away long time ago, and my dad never has time for me. I've never felt their love. Does that mean, I'll never feel this pure happiness? I don't like it! Why I can't just be that happy from all the things I have right now, from my toys, gadgets, and my ingenious brain? Why I always feel as if my life will never be happy enough from that?", Near poured his heart out. It hurt. It hurt him to realize that deep inside his heart, he has a big burden of loneliness.

Linda was shocked by Near statements. She didn't see that coming, she couldn't believe that Near was the one who said all of those words. But all of it was real. Near was broken. And that time, Linda understood what Near was thinking since the start. It had been bothering him, the smile and laugh from the children with their parents and family, because he never felt that way. She realized that behind his coldness, unemotional, and arrogance, there was a thirst of love and sadness hidden in his heart.

"Near, you should know, even if you are the richest person in the world or have the most powerful brain, without love you are nothing. You won't find heart and happiness through science. And you can't buy a true love by your money. And do you think family and parents are the only one who will give you loves? Well, you are wrong! Because you won't only find love and happiness from your parents and family, but also friends.", Linda said earnestly. "Friends can give you warmness and love. They will make your life brighter and happier. You ought to know that, Near. That's why you need friends. You can't live alone, Near.", Linda finished her meaningful speech and smiled brightly at him.

Near stunned there as Linda's words sank on his head. She's right. From the first time he went to school, he had no friends, never. Not even one. He always had his own world with him, he never cares about his ,friend is the only one he needed. He was ashamed of himself. He was so stupid and arrogant. If only he was so openhearted and friendlier, he wouldn't be this lonely. He wouldn't feel this way.

"Damn! I'm so stupid, why I was born this way? I hate the way I was so mean and cold to the others! Curse myself!", Near shouted and face-palming himself. He looked so broken despite all of his cold acts in the past. Linda couldn't stand to see him like this.

"Near! Don't be like that! Don't hate yourself. It's not too late, you know. You still can change your attitude. I will always help you, no matter what."

"Li-Linda… Why? I was so mean to you. Why do you still want to help me?"

"Because, that's the meaning of true friendship, Near. You're my friend, and I want you to be happy. And I promised you, I'll stay by your side even when there's no one would.", Linda smiled and held his hand.

Near was speechless. He felt warm and safe as if the ice in his heart had already broken by Linda's words and warmness. He smiled back and held her hand back. "Thanks, Linda.", that's all he needed to say, because their body language told everything that they couldn't say.

And for the first time, he felt the bliss for having someone to love and love him back. The beginning of a true happiness….

THE END OF THIS STORY

AND

THE START OF A NEW BEGINNING

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Soooo, like it or hate it? Let me know through the review button! ^.^

I'll accept every critics because that'll make me do better.

In the end, I want to say thank you for reading, it means a lot for me! :D

=Arigatou Gozaimasu=

Good bye! Sayounara!^w^)/

_~FaithfulGirl193~_


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